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Give two examples of how water moderate temperature

User BearsEars
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Water has a very high heat capacity. It takes a lot of heat energy to cause a relatively small change in temperature. Water also has a very heat of fusion and heat of vaporization, so when the addition or subtraction of heat causes a phase change in water, that energy shows up as an increase or decrease in the amount of ice or vapor in the system, rather than an increase or decrease in the temperature of the system.

So...

Land next to a large body of water has a more moderate temperature because of this.

If you add heat to an environment near a large body of water, some of the added heat will go to evaporating water. This will keep the temperature lower than it otherwise would be. Or if you pull heat out, water vapor will condense and dump heat into the air, keeping the temperature higher than it otherwise would be.

Similarly, a large body of ice will absorb heat, melting some water and keeping the surrounding area cooler than would otherwise be the case. When you drop the temperature of a body of water near the freezing point, some of the water will freeze, dumping heat into the surrounding environment, so the temperature will stay higher than it otherwise would.
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Related questions (More answers below)
User Cfr
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20 votes
20 votes

Answer:Water can moderate temperature because of two properties: high-specific heat and the high heat of vaporization.

Step-by-step explanation:

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User Robert Reiz
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